As some of you may have heard, a major security vulnerability came to light last week. It affects all platforms and all operating systems. This is the best source of information I found on it, so far: https://spectreattack.com.

Security patches will slowly be released over the coming weeks. These patches completely change how an operating system and the processor communicates. Some estimates say there is a potential to negatively affect performance by up to 30% or more. We don’t yet know what effects they’ll have on 3rd party applications.

Please do not dismiss this or put it on the back burner. Now is the time to analyze backups and backup strategies as there is a high likelihood of needing them. If you do not have your documents and other data backed up, do so now. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – buy an external drive on Amazon and copy your data to it.

In the mean time be extremely cautious of what email attachments you open and what websites you visit. Look 2-3 times at a link before clicking it. Often times these hacks jeopardize systems via ads on Google, Facebook and other social media and news sites.

Please cascade this through your organization so that everyone can be aware and take the necessary precautions at home. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We’ll be in touch as more news comes out. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We’re available via phone(803.955.7737), email or Twitter.